Hay rake



HAY RAKE Filed Dec. 9, 1936 ava/M71111. 222a INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 25, 1938 UNITED, STATES 2,134,269 ,HAY RAKE Adolph J. Synck, Goldwater, New Idea, Inc., Goldwater,

of Ohio Original application cember 9, 1936, Seria Ohio, assignor Ohio,- a corporation November 25, 1935, Serial No. 51,408. Divided and "this application De- I No. 114.932

This invention relates'to' hay rakes of the side delivery type, the invention'relating more particularly to improvements whereby thetongue may be shifted laterally with respect to the machine; this application being a division of my pending application filed November 25th, 1935, Serial No. 51,408.

In the pending application referred to it was explained that in the raking of certain crops, particularly the crops from which it is intended to thresh seed, such as clover, beans and the like, if one of the, horses is forced to walk onan edge of a window, travel on a portion of a windrow, it is desirable to shift the wheel axially sufiiciently to clear the windrow and also to move the tongue laterally so that the horse may likewise clear the windrow, it being clear that the rolling action of the wheel and the trampling of the horse on the seed pods breaks the pods and the seed loss is then comparatively heavy. In the pending application referred to the means for shifting the wheel is described and claimed and the present application is confined to the means for shift-' ing the tongue.

An object of the present invention is the provision of means whereby the shifting of the tongue can be quickly and easily performed and. the retaining means for the tongue removed and reapplied easily and quickly.

A further object of the invention is to provide improved means for permitting the adjustment of the tongue laterally with respect to the machine.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view showing my improved shiftable tongue applied to the frame of the rake, a portion of which is shown conventionally.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. d

Fig. 3 is a transverse section on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal section on the line 5'-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a view mainly in perspective with some of the parts broken away'to show details in section, of one portion of the connection of the shiftable tongue with the main frame of the rake.

As explained in my pending application referred to, the necessity and advantage'of shifting a drive wheel indicates that a shifting of the tongue in the same direction is just as adthe present instance the permits of aquick shifting-of the tongueybut also by'simple means permits of a'very quick 7 or if one of the wheels must detachment of the chine which is advantageous when the machine mentarily shown the tongue 40 issecured an angle ironmember 4| of a. sufiicient length that the effect is to. distribute the pull on theframe to separated as by welding, or other "dotted lines in Fig.

on the amount of shift desired for the making a shift of the tongue may appear several times in a, days operation; therefore, an

operator should be enabled to make the shift of the tongue as quickly and easily as possible and I:

the I device by which the tongue is retained in its shifted positions should be readily releasable to permit the tongue to be moved and as readily'replaced to retain the tongue in place; 'In

tongue proper from the mais to be stored away.

Referring to. the drawing, the tongue itself, in the present case, is the wooden member fragat 40. Across the rear end of points as will be seen. Two tongue braces 42 and 43 are employed, one each being secured means-at a point such as indicated at 44; Fig. 2, to each end of the cross member 4|, then bent diagonallytowards the tongue to which'they are bolted at their forward ends by the bolt 45, Figs. 1 and 3. The r'earwardend of each of the diagonal braces 42 and 43 is -formedinto an eye; one only of these eyes is shown. in full lines, it being the eye 46 (Figs. 4' and 6). The other eye is shown in 1 and is formed in the same manner except that it is on the reversed hand, an'd as can be seen in Fig. 1 the axis of each @eye is in, a'verticalplane. v 1 ,'I'he connection of the tongue thus constructed .with the fra'meof the machine is as follows: At two fairly Well separated'pointson the forward rail 41 of the main frame I aresecured in parallel, relation to J the rail'4l,'two round rods 48 and 49, tubular in 'thepresent case forplightness in Weight." Each of these rods is secured at jeach ofits ends to thevertical forward side of the rail 41 by bolts 50, the bolts passing transversely through the' rods near the ends thereof and through. the vertical; leg ,of the forward rail 41, l and through saddle members 5| interposed between the rods and the rail to provide a spaced apart relation of the rods and the rail;-

Since as will be explained, the spaced apart eyes 46 of the tongue 40'ar'e connected with the rods 48 and 49, the'length of the rods depends tongue, and the disp'ositionof the pair of rods along the construction not only .looseness,

is transversely inserted a potter 2 rail depends on where it is desired that the draft animals are to walk. The tongue is detachably and slidably connected with the rods by the use of U-shaped clevises indicated in general at 52, an idea of the longitudinal cross-section and therefore of its general form probably being best obtained fromFig. 5. Referring especially to Fig. 5 it can be seen that the U-bend portion of the clevis as indicated at 53 encompasses the rod 49 about one-half its circumference, and thati .bent downwardly as at 13 to the extent that its the upper leg 54 and lower leg of the U-bend are in the present case spread apart to receive the eye 46 on the end of thebra'ce 43..Thedetachable connection of the eye with' the-clevis' 52 is by means of a pin 55 which passes through aligned openings in the legs 54 and-55 and,-

further strengthen the connection, the upper leg 54 of the clevis is ex.-

uppersurface of n the cross member 4| at the point of the welded through the eye 46. To

tended as at 58 to lie over the connection of the diagonal brace 43 therewith.

A pocket is formedto receivethe extended portion 58 of the clevis v52 by the securingon the upper surface of the cross member- 4lat the end.

thereof a strap 59. As seen best in Fig. 2 the strapmember 59issecuredas by rivets 60 to the cross member 4|, and is thenvbent upwardlyas at 5| (Figs. 2 and 6) and horizontally as at 62 to lie over the end of the cross-member 4| and downwardly as at -63 tocomplete the'pocket.

Referring to Fig. 6- whichshows one ofthe connections of the tongue with the frame, it will be clear that to detach the tongue from themachine, the cotters such as 54 are removedfrom the pins 56, the pins are withdrawn from the clevises, and the tonguee drawn forwardly, leaving the clevises hanging on the rods, from which the clevises may be finally removed if desired. To attach the tongue to the machine, each of the clevis extended portions 58 is entered into its respective pocket and the tongue is moved rearwardly'until the eyes arefaligned with the openings in the clevis legs 54 and-55, after which the pins are inserted and retained by the cotters 64.

From this it will be seen that there is provided a hingeable connection of the tongue with the machine, obtained throughthe direct connection of the clevises with the rods, and that also the tongue may be moved laterally bya sliding movement from side to side-as indicated by the three positions shown in full and broken lines in Fig. 1. To retain the tongue inany one of the three positions as desired is the function of the member now to be described. This member engages one of the clevises 52, and as one only. is needed, the clevis near the shiftablewheel 3 is the one to be engaged, as when an operator. isfshiftihg this wheel, he can also very, readily shift'the tongue, it having been statedthat in almost all cases where it is advisable to shift the wheel it is also preferable to shift the tongue.

The tongue retaining member is. formed of suitably heavy flat sheet metal, and is loosely mounted on the upper'surface of the forward rail 41. In the present case, this loose connection is by means of three pins, two shorter pins 55 passing through openings 65 (one only being shown in Fig. .4) in the flat portion 51 .of the retaining member and through the horizontal leg of the forward rail, these openings being somewhat larger than the rivets. to provide the desired and a longer pin 68 also passing through the retainer and the rail.- In each of the shorter pins65 near the lower endthereof there pi 58 (Figs. 4

the spring 1 l I postponed entirely forward edge almost makes contact with the rod 1' 49 (Fig. 4 and-since the length of the retainer is lessthan the space between the saddle members carrying the rod 49 by twice the width of theclevis (Fig. 1 itcan be seen that by disposing the retainer centrally between the saddle members; that a space is left between each end of the retainer and an adjacent saddle member, which space will accommodate the clevis. In this manner, the tongueisheld at either extreme of its possible movement.

,JIo shift the tongue, it is onlynecessary to lift the. tongue retainer, the retainer hinging to a certain'extent' on the shorter pins so that the forward bent edge is-lifted against the action of The extent to which it is lifted is merely suflicient that the forward depending edge 13 clears the clevis as shown by the broken lines ir'rFig 5, after which the tongue may be slid laterally along the rods. In order to enable "the operator to conveniently lift the retainer, a

lifting tab is ,formed in the center of the for- .ward edge as indicated at 14, the space left by turning upwardly the lifting tab being made wide enough; to receive the clevis whereby a central position for the tongue is obtained as shown by the fulllines in Fig. l, the broken lines showing the position'of the tongue when the clevis is being retained between theclevis and a saddle member, or at its extremes of position. When the tongueis placed in'the desired position, the retainer is released, the spring returning the retainer to its normal position and holding the tongue against displacement by vibration.

It will then be seen that with the construction asdescribed, there is provided a simple, effective an l:durablev retaining means for holding the .shiftable tongue in any ofits possible positions, and one in which the time of operation is held to aminimum. v v

By this arrangement the shift is readily made ,incontrast with theearlier forms amounting to dismantling and reassembling some portion of the machine for itcan beseen that when it is understood. that the advisability for shifting either the wheel or thetongue, or both, may occur severaltimesin a days operation, that the operation of shifting either or both of these elements will likely be deferreduntil a later time or if 'the operation can only be 'done at the'expense of a great deal of time or labor.

Having thus described myinvention, I claim:

1-. In a hay rake, a main frame, a pair of spaced-apart rods secured to the forward por- ..tion of said frame and lying substantially parallel therewith, a tongue, a cross member attached to the rear endv of said tongue, a pair of braces connecting said tongue with each end of said cross member, a clevis pivotally and slidably mountedupon each. of said rods, means for detachably connecting each clevis with the rear end of oneof said braces, anda retaining member supported by said frame for retaining one of said clevises in any one of a plurality of positions on its corresponding rod.

2. In a hay rake, a main frame, a pair of spaced-apart rods secured to the forward portion of said frame and lying substantially parallel therewith, a tongue, a cross member attached to the rear end of said tongue, a pair of braces connecting said tongue with each end of said cross member, a clevis pivotally and slidably mounted on each of said rods, said cross mem ber having a pocket at each end to receive one of the legs of a clevis, means for detachably connecting each clevis with the rear end of one of said braces, and a retaining member supported by said frame for retaining one of said clevises in any one of a plurality of positions on the corresponding rod.

3. In a hay rake, a main frame, a pair of spaced-apart rods, means for securing said rods to the forward portion of said frame in substantially parallel relation therewith including a pair of saddles at each end of each rod, a tongue, a cross member attached to the rear end of said tongue, a pair of braces connecting said tongue with each end of said cross member, a clevis pivotally and slidably mounted upon each of said rods, means for detachably connecting each clevis with the rear end of one of said braces, and a retaining member for comprising a yieldable plate supported by said frame and positioned centrally of the length of one of said rods and forming spaces between the ends of the plates and the respective saddles of that rod to receive and retain said clevis, said plate also having a central notch to receive said clevis.

4. In a hay rake, a main frame, a pair of spaced-apart axially-aligned rods secured to the forward rail of said frame, a detachable tongue, a cross member secured to the rearward end of said tongue, a brace member attached to each side of the tongue forwardly of the cross member and secured at each end of said cross memone of said clevises ber and extending rearwardly thereof, the extended portion of each brace member being formed into an eye, a pocket formed at each end of said cross member, a U-shaped clevis having one leg longer than the other pivotally and slid ably depending from each of said aligned rods, each of said clevises adapted to embrace an eye of one of said braces, each of said clevises having an aligned opening in each of its legs to register with the eye of the corresponding brace, a removable pin insertable through the said openings of each clevis and through the eye of the corresponding brace, and aspring-pressed retaining member attached to the forward rail adjacent one of the said aligned rods to engage one of said clevises in any of a plurality of positions thereof on the corresponding rod.

5. In a hay rake, a main frame, a tongue, a device laterally shiftable with respect to said frame for connecting said tongue and frame, means for supporting the shiftable device from the frame, a movable retaining member carried by said frame formed to provide intermediate spaced engaging surfaces to engage the ends of said device to retain it in a central'position, and being further provided with an, engaging surface on each end thereof to engage and hold said device to one side of the central position between the retaining member and said supporting means.

6. In a hay rake, a main frame, a tongue, a laterally shiftable device for connecting said tongue and frame, means for supporting the shiftable device from the frame, and a movable retaining member carried by said frame having a free front edge formed to engage said device to hold the latter in'a central position'and having side edges each formed to engage and hold said device to either side of said central position between the retaining member and supporting means when the same is shifted.

ADOLPH J. SYNCK. 

